


Sequelitis

by distractionpie



Category: National Treasure Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 19:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3300749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distractionpie/pseuds/distractionpie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riley's literary endeavours have not been forgotten.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sequelitis

 

 

Abby stared at the book in her hand with a frown. Normally she'd have dismissed it at a glance as sensationalist rubbish. She didn't particularly think she was a book snob, she'd openly admit to reading all sorts of objectively terrible mystery novels, but when it came to history she preferred real academic literature, backed up with facts and sources, not personal opinions and speculation.

The again, the chapter on the President's book had been both useful and startlingly accurate, given that even Riley hadn't actually known for sure the book existed until after his own work was published.

Also she felt bad.

She'd sat through dozens of terrible shows in high school when one of her friends got it into her head to start a band. In college it had been slam poetry and ultimate Frisbee matches. It was nice to show support for your friends, even if it meant sitting through something dismal.

She opened the front cover.

 

*

 

Patrick had been using the book to level out a wobbly table in his garage. He honestly wasn't even sure why he'd received a copy, given his acquired distaste for wild goose chases. Just because Ben had found the Templar treasure, didn't mean Patrick was going to start believing every bit of nonsense put in front of him.

Especially not when that nonsense was authored by one of Ben's ridiculous companions. At least Ben had the excuse of a legacy and Patrick's father's storytelling to explain his fixation with chasing after the treasure, but volunteering to get mired up in such a goose chase without the excuse of a history with it suggest either insanity or idiocy.

Still, he hated ruining a good book by reading while doing something awful like flying, but he didn't want to do nothing either.

If he wasn't going to be home anyway it hardly mattered if the table legs were uneven.

 

*

 

Emily had been delighted to hear that Ben's young friend had written a book about the discovery of the Templar treasure. Ben had seemed to reluctant to talk to her about it, still stuck on the idea that it had been the treasure hunt that had caused her to leave his father, rather than the way Patrick had acted like the treasure hunt superseded his responsibilities as a husband and a father. A book wasn't her first choice was to learn about her son's exploits, especially given that she had the strong impression that the published version of the story was also a sanitized version, but it was nice to have some light reading from time to time. She'd already learned that Riley had been on point with his theories about the President's secret book, and she couldn't help but wonder how right he was about the other things he wrote. Oh she didn't believe in aliens, but she could admit that the young man wrote an engaging argument. She'd not had much of a change to speak with him over the few days she'd spent seeing him in person, but the book left her with a firm resolve to have Ben bring him to dinner some time. It would surely be entertaining.

 

*

Nobody seemed to be sure who to blame for the fact that Patrick, Emily, Ben, Abby and Riley had fallen into a habit of monthly dinners. Perhaps it was Patrick, hoping to remind Ben of what normal life was like; or Emily, who for all her complaints was clearly pleased to have reconnected with the family she’d spent so many years close to estranged from. Perhaps it was Abby, who’d established such an immediate rapport with Emily, and relished the chance to hear and make fun of stories of Ben as a child, secure in the knowledge that with her family still in Germany she would be spared retaliation. Perhaps it was Mitch Wilkinson’s for bringing them together again. Still, they’d become a strange routine.

"So when should we be expecting your book on Cibola to be published?" Emily asked.

Riley frowned. "What book?"

Emily laughed. “You don’t need to play coy with us. If it’s not ready to be show to people that’s fine, I was just wondering how it was coming along?”

"Is that not what you’ve been working on?” Abby added.

Riley shook his head. "No, I’ve been coding. Even if I wrote another book I doubt I'd find anybody to publish it."

"You know I'm sure I've still got some publishing contacts from back when I wrote that book on Uto-Aztekan. It's perhaps not their area but I'm sure they'll know who you need to be dealing with."

"No, I know publishers. I mean..." Riley pulled a face, “Clearly I'm not cut out to be a writer. After the way the last one flopped… Come on, even you guys didn't read it, surely it's not a surprise that basically nobody else did either."

There was a pause, as each occupant of the room looked around at the others to see what they would say.

“Well I thought it was an excellent book,” Emily announced. “Goodness knows these two,” she gestured towards Ben and Patrick, “Never tell their stories nearly as well.”

"Got up to the ninth chapter on that blasted flight to Iowa the other month," Patrick added, although he didn’t sound especially happy about it.

"And then no doubt lost it," Emily sniped.

“Actually,” Abby interrupted, “I’d been meaning to ask you, in the chapter on Trabuco’s gold you wrote that-”

“You read my book?” Riley interrupted, incredulously.

“Well of course I did,” Emily said. “How else would I know when Ben got up? He certainly never calls.”

Ben opened his mouth to respond, but Abby cut in before a family fight could start.

“I’d never really thought about how you got started on the hunt, other than what Ben mentioned,” she confessed. “And you were right about the president’s book. After finding Cibola as well…” She grinned. “It seems like anything could happen these days, and having you know more than I do about history is too strange, I need to get caught up.”

There was a pause. Ben shrugged. “I’ve been busy,” he said. “Anyway, there’s no need for me to read it. If I ever need to know about something that’s in it, I’ll just ask you.”

“Ben!” Emily scolded.

Abigail rolled her eyes. “You know, it is possible to read for reasons other than needing to for work, Ben.”

“Some days I do worry that you’re turning into your father,” Emily continued. Patrick began to splutter indignantly.

“Guys- GUYS!” Riley called out over the beginnings of the argument, but his efforts were futile. He gave in and pulled his phone from his pocket. Finding the city of gold was one hell of a story, and there’d been plenty of more obscure legends he’d left out of the book to keep it from getting too long. Patrick and Emily were settling into to fight with the comfort of two people who’d had years of practise, and Ben and Abby were jumping across topics like they weren’t even sure what they were arguing about and had simply been swept along by the mood in the room.

He began to type.


End file.
